Chapter 49: The Everyday Life of Living Together (2 of 2)
It"s quite crowded at the supermarket in the afternoon. Jin Xi is pushing a shopping cart while Han Chen"s hand is on her waist.
There are too many things that they need to buy: new bedspread, duvet cover, slippers, bucket, shampoo, bathing soap……Why can"t she just bring everything from her dormitory? It"s because Jin Xi has a plan in mind: for one, she can go back to her dormitory anytime and hide the fact that she is living together with Han Chen; secondly, this decision was made too hastily, so if she"s not happy with living with him, she can just turn around and go back to her dormitory.
While she picks up the things to buy, Han Chen accompanies her quietly this whole time. At most, he raises his arm to stop her occasionally, "I have this at home. You don"t need to buy it."
"Oh, okay."
The shopping cart is soon stuffed with items.
When they get to the cashier, Han Chen stands in the front and takes out his wallet. Jin Xi pushes the cart to the side and waits for him.
And this is when she spots Xin Jia not far away.
Jin Xi is stunned.
Xin Jia is also pushing a shopping cart and standing beside a grocery rack about ten meters away. She"s wearing a pink top with a long chiffon skirt, making her look like a fairy. She"s looking in Jin Xi and Han Chen"s direction expressionlessly.
Jin Xi has heard rumors from before that Xin Jia had once pursued Han Chen, following him from Beijing to City Lan. She even purchased a home that is not far away from Han Chen"s place, so it"s not surprising to b.u.mp into her at the supermarket today.
Or maybe it"s really not a coincidence?
Jin Xi exchanges gaze with her for a moment and smile suddenly. She lifts one hand and waves at her.
Just as she had expected, she sees Xin Jia"s face change.
Jin Xi turns around and doesn"t look at her anymore.
Pshh, weirdo.
Han Chen doesn"t seem to notice what"s going on. He finishes paying, stuffs his wallet back into his chest pocket, turns around and grabs her by the waist again. They then walk out of the supermarket together.
_____
Due to spending too much time at the supermarket, it"s already nighttime when they get back home.
Han Chen carries the big bags of stuff into the apartment, while Jin Xi carries a small bag of frozen food to the fridge, bends down and puts each item inside.
As she puts the things into the fridge, a thought springs into her mind again——Although they may have been a couple in the past and it seems to be the truth, what if another woman appears suddenly and is his real fiancee?
She thinks in silence for a while but can"t come up with an answer.
She pushes the freezer"s basket in hard——She has already given up everything to be with him. If he has mistaken her for his real lover, he can go straight to h.e.l.l!
After thinking about it this way, she feels better immediately. She stands back up.
She feels something grabbing her waist and warm breathing coming closer. It"s Han Chen hugging her from behind and resting his head on her shoulder.
He remains quiet and still.
Jin Xi"s heart softens as she lets him hug her like this for a while, but she says to him cooly, "Move aside. I need to make the bed."
Han Chen releases her, "Okay."
The moment Jin Xi turns her head, she sees a hint of a smile in his eyes. Her heart pounds.
"What are you smiling about?" she asks cautiously, "I"m making my bed. You"re sleeping on the sofa. You"re the one who"s demanding me to live with you and I"ve agreed to. But I haven"t agreed to anything else, so don"t think of any nonsense. I"ve already said that I need some more time to accept all this."
Han Chen glances at her, "Go make the bed." He goes into the bedroom.
The way he"s behaving makes Jin Xi a little worried. But then again, she doesn"t think that he would do anything to her, so she follows him into the bedroom.
New bed sheets need to be washed before use. Han Chen takes out a set from the closet and tosses it to her before he walks out to the balcony and starts smoking. It"s a set of light blue striped bed sheets; a very manly style as usual.
Jin Xi finishes making the bed very soon. She"s been busying herself the whole day, so she lies onto the bed and stares up at the ceiling. It still feels like she"s dreaming.
After a few seconds, she sees Han Chen come in. Her arms are behind her head as she looks at him. He takes off his shoes and lies down right beside her. He wraps his arm around her shoulders to make her lean against him.
They both don"t have anything to say.
After a while, she speaks, "Han Chen, does this mean……that we"re together now?"
She looks up and sees him smiling. She looks back down. A pair of dark brown eyes is staring at her in a very close distance.
"We are together now."
He"s clearly just repeating her words in verbatim, but his deep and mellow voice plucks her heartstring.
And then his lips press against hers.
After a long while, he lets go of her. Jin Xi is dizzy from his kissing again. She feels as if her whole body is stuffed with his aura; sweet and soft.
Even though she can"t recall anything from the past, it"s the first time in these years that she feels an overwhelming and unreal sense of happiness.
She likes him, and he likes her. They can stay together every second and every minute.
Han Chen takes out his wallet, "I want to show you something."
Jin Xi looks over with curiosity.
She sees him fetch a ring from the inner layer.
"This was in my palm after waking up and losing my memory."
Jin Xi is stunned.
It"s a very ordinary silver ring with some scratches on the surface. There seem to be some letters engraved on the inside. She takes it to have a closer look. It"s a row of English words:
H&SForeverlove
H?
The first letter from "Han" in Han Chen?
But S?
Bai Jin Xi is BJX……That"s not right.
Han Chen notices her expression and keeps quiet for a moment.
He still doesn"t know her real name. He only knows that "S" could be the first letter of her name.
He finds a reason to explain: "My English name is Herman, so this must be based on the first letter of our English names. Do you remember you English name?"
Jin Xi says "oh" and shakes her head.
But big waves are rippling in her heart.
It"s because she recalls her necklace.
If she previously believed Han Chen ninety percent that she was his fiancee, she now believes him ninety-nine percent……
Han Chen examines her expression and his eyes are filled with emotions.
"You also have a ring like this, don"t you?"
He grabs onto her finger.
He doesn"t have high hopes that she would have a ring like this. Since her ident.i.ty has been changed, it"s possible that something important like this would have been taken away by somebody.
Jin Xi wraps her arms around his neck.
"I don"t have a ring, but……" she reaches into her collar and takes out her necklace, "I have this necklace." She coughs lightly, "It"s not a meteorite. I made that up. When I woke up four years ago, apparently, this pendant……was in my palm because the doctors couldn"t take it out. I got someone to check it out for me later, and it"s supposedly made of platinum. It must have been under high heat and force that caused it to warp out of shape. I don"t know if this used to be a ring or not, or whether there were any words engraved on it……"
Before she finishes, Han Chen lowers his head and kisses her aggressively.
"Good job," he says nibbling on her ear, "If you had told me the truth earlier, we may have been able to reunite sooner."
Jin Xi feels her heart sting, but her whole body is going numb from his nibbling. Afraid of him taking another hard bite on her like he did during the day, she pleads, "It"s my fault, it"s my fault. How would I have known that it would be the key for us to reunite? Moreover, I didn"t know that it was you at the time and yet I gave you such an important belonging……"
Her words seem to have pleased the man successfully. Han Chen lets go of her finally but continues to lay on top of her and stare at her.
"Help me put the ring on," he says.
Jin Xi picks up one of his hands and the ring obediently.
"Which finger do I put it on?" she asks.
"Middle finger."
"Oh, okay."
She puts the ring on him quickly, but he continues to lay on top of her and won"t come down. He holds her face in his palms and stares at her.
"Leave the necklace with me. I"ll get someone to examine it to see if it can be remolded back into a ring," he says.
"Mm," Jin Xi is starting to feel hot. She glances at the door, "I want to sleep. Can you please leave the room?"
Han Chen takes a look at her and then flips himself over to get off of her. Jin Xi is delighted until she realizes that he isn"t getting out of bed. Instead, he wraps his arms around her waist from behind.
Jin Xi"s body shakes, "What are you doing? Go sleep on the sofa."
"No," he answers calmly.
Jin Xi can"t believe that he can be such a b.a.s.t.a.r.d——he didn"t say anything when she made the request, so she thought that he would agree. Who knew that he would actually reject it? And refuse to get out of her bed?
Jin Xi turns around wanting to push him away, but he grasps both her hands.
"Stop moving around," he stares at her, breathing onto her face, "If you keep moving, I can"t guarantee that I won"t do anything to you."
Jin Xi freezes.
She"s not stupid. They"ve been lying with their bodies against each other so she can, of course, feel a certain part of his body changing.
She turns around to have her back towards him and doesn"t speak anymore.
Han Chen looks at her back while hugging her from behind.
He stares at the side of her fair white face and neck, her slim waist and her bare feet. His gaze lands on her chest; the curvy contour of her body is just inches above where his palms are.
His breathing quickens a bit. His fingers grip harder on her waist.
Just when he is about to move his hands over, he hears her steady breathing. Han Chen lifts his head up slightly and looks at her face, "Jin Xi?"
No answer. Her eyebrows are relaxed and her eyelashes are resting peacefully covering her eyes. Her fair white fingers are grabbing onto the pillow. She"s clearly asleep.
Han Chen lies back down and smiles faintly.
It looks like she is really exhausted.
She sure knows how to make him suffer. A certain part of his body is already stiff as if it"s about to be lit on fire, yet she has already fallen asleep so quickly in his embrace.
He keeps still for a while before tucking the blanket for her and getting up to go to the bathroom for a cold shower.
After he comes out of the bathroom, he has no desire to sleep anymore. He lights up a cigarette sitting on the side of the bed and watches her quietly.
After all these years, he almost lost hope in finding her and even thought that she might have died already.
But now, seeing her returning to his side again and watching her lying in bed just an arm"s length away, even if they"re not doing anything, he"s already satisfied.
A moment later, he lowers his head and gives her a peck on the cheek. He then walks out of the room and closes the door.
The clock on the wall points to ten o"clock. He walks to the window and takes out his phone.
He calls the public security bureau"s deputy chief of City Lin, Ji Bai. This man can be considered as his best buddy since he was little. Although they"ve both been busy and Ji Bai has moved out of Beijing and they haven"t been in touch much, their friendship hasn"t changed. Ji Bai is definitely someone whom Han Chen can trust. Furthermore, the Ji Family has an influential background in Beijing. If he insists on investigating the case in the past, Ji Bai may be the only one who can help him.
"Third Brother," Han Chen says; Ji Bai is the third child in the family.
"Please look up some information for me. I want some info on the ma.s.s murder case in Beijing five years ago including the number of deaths, information of the deceased, caused of death, and the status of the case."
Ji Bai agrees to a.s.sist.
After hanging up, Han Chen leans on the side of the window and stares at the brilliant and quiet city.
In the past, everyone had told him that his fiancee did not exist. Even though he persisted in searching for her, he wasn"t sure if there was an incident. But now, T"s last words and Jin Xi"s existence are proofs of everything.
If his supervisors, colleagues, and family members refuse to talk about the case, it can only mean one thing——this case has already been sealed off by the officials, and it may possibly be cla.s.sified as top secret. He obviously has no way of investigating the case directly.
However, despite the case is cla.s.sified, the victims exist. Those who have been murdered cannot be erased by any person or department. And based on T"s words at the time: "I was one of the serial killers from five years ago," the count of deaths from the case is probably not little. Even if the police withhold some information due to confidentiality, they cannot change the victims" conditions and the reasons for their deaths.
Therefore, if he looks up the victims and traces back to which case they were from, he may be able to work backward and discover the truth about the case.
He falls into deep thoughts for a while before he turns his head to look at the woman from afar who"s asleep in the bedroom.
S, no matter how many obstacles there are, I will find the truth and carry out justice on the criminals.
Furthermore, I will never let you go through any hardships again. I will not let you leave me again.